Replacement unit shipping structure



March 6, 1934. c. w. BELL REPLACEMENT UNIT SHIPPING STRUCTURE Filed April 8, 1929 Patented Mar. 6, 1934 UNITED STATES REPLACEMENT UNIT SHIPPING .STRUCTURE Charles W. Bell, Buffalo, N. Y., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Gould Storage Battery Corporation, Depew, N. Y., a corporation of Dela- Application April 8', 1929, Serial No. 353,583

1 Claim.

The invention relates broadly to storage batteries and has special reference to replacement units and an arrangement and structure for Shipping.

l It is well known that after prolonged use the plates in a storage battery become disintegrated to a greater or less extent or become otherwise inefficient and unfit for further use. To eiect rejuvenation necessitates replacing the plates in all of the cells or at least those in which the units have become exhausted. Furthermore, in some instances it is desirable to replace the units in a battery of one type with units of another type. Under all such circumstances the problem arises as to the preparation of the units for ship ment so that they cannot become disassembled.

It is with the above state of facts in view that I have devised the present invention which has for its object the provision of means for holding a unit or group of plates assembled prior to and during transit so that the unit will be not only held together but will be protected.4

An important object of the invention is to provide assembly maintaining means of this character so arranged or positioned with respect to the unit or "group of plates as not to interfere with the disposition of the unit within the jar or container in which it is to be permanently located, the retaining means additionally serving as a guide to assist in the insertion of the unit.

A further object of the invention is to provide assembly maintaining means which will be simple and inexpensive to manufacture, easy to apply or remove as the case may be, eflicient and positive in action, and a general improvement in the art.

To the attainment` of the foregoing and other objects and advantages, the invention preferably consists in the details of construction and the 40 arrangement and combination ofparts to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a unit or group of battery plates equipped with the invention.

Figure 2 is an elevation taken at right angles to Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a sectional view through a plurality of the plates and separators.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, I have shown a unit 1 embodying groups of alternately arranged positive and negative plates 2 and 3, those of each group being connected by the usual cross bar 4 provided with a terminal 5. Of course there are two terminals, one for the (Cl. 13G-81) plates of each character. 'I'he plates are held in spaced relation by separating means which, in

the particular type of replacement unit shown, preferably consists of a wood veneer sheet or separator 6 disposed against each negative plate, a perforated hard rubber separator '7 disposed against the wood veneer, and a glass wool mat 8 interposed between the rubber separator and the positive plate. It is of course true that the exact elements employed for separating the plates 55 might be varied without affecting the nature of the assembly maintaining means to be described. but this disclosure is given for the purpose of indicating the preferred arrangement such as is used in a replacement unit of a type known on the market.

In carrying out the invention I provide a pair of blocks 9 which are .preferably rectangular in shape and which may very conventiently be formed of wood. Those blocks are disposed against the outermost plates and are preferably of less length than the plates so that the latter will be exposed at their lower ends as clearly indicated in the drawing. outwardly 4of the blocks 9 I provide transversely arranged strips 10 of a length greater thanv the width of the unit so as to project beyond the sides thereof as clearly shown in Figure 2. The entire assembly is then held together by retaining means such as the tie rods 11 which pass through the strips 10 and outwardly of the plates and blocks. In the present instance each tie rod is shown as having an angular end 12 serving as a head and is also represented as threaded to receive a securing or clamping nut 13.

In assembling, the blocks 9 are disposed against the outermost plates of the unit, the stripsllO are placed in position, and the tie rods are applied. When the nuts 13 are glued down it is obvious that the units will be firmly clamped so that the plates cannot jar or shake during transportatlon, the separators being consequently maintained in the proper position so that the unit will be in t condition for use when received by the consignee. When it is desired to replace an exhausted unit in a battery the old unit is of course removed and discarded and the cell or container properly cleaned to remove any sediment which may be and generally is therein. The operator then takes the new unit shown and described and starts it into the cell by inserting the exposed lower portion into the container until the lower edges of the blocks 9 engage upon the cell walls. The nuts 13 are then loosened so that the unit may be slid down between the blocks 9 into its iinal resting place. 'I'he battery is then treated in the well known manner which forms no part of the present invention in order to complete it ready for service. From the foregoingV description and a study of the drawing it will be apparent that I have thus provided a very simple and inexpensive means for maintaining a storage battery unit or group of plates in assembled relation prior to and during transportation so that the plates and separators cannot move relatively and in tact so that all the parts will be held intact. No particular skill is requiredfor the manipulation and the work oi' making replacement in a battery to be repaired will be greatly facilitated.

While I have shown and described the preierred embodiment of the invention, it should be understood that the disclosure is merely an exempliiication of the principles involved as the right is reserved to mairie all such changes in the details of construction as' will widen the iield of utility and increase the adaptability of the device provided such changes constitute no departure from the spirit oi the invention or the scope of the` claim hereunto appended. Having thus described the invention I claim:

l Means for facilitating disposition within a receptacle oi! a storage battery unit including groups of interleaved plates with separators lin.- terposed therebetween, comprising removably held block members disposed against two opposite sides of the unit and substantially coveringl the same removable transverse members located against the outer sides of said block members, and

releasable bolts connecting said transverse mem- 

